Standard Pacific's Profit Soars Amid Brisk Home Sales

The builder's orders for new houses rise 24% in the quarter. It sees strong revenue for at least six more months.

Standard Pacific Corp. said Monday that third-quarter profit more than doubled as booming housing markets in California and Florida propelled the company to record results.

The Irvine-based home builder said profit surged to $57.9 million, or $1.72 a share, from $22.6 million, or 68 cents, a year earlier.

"As long as order numbers stay strong, and they have been, the outlook beyond that is positive too," Chief Financial Officer Andrew Parnes said.

Orders for new homes rose 24% in the three months ended Sept. 30, to 2,148. The company has a backlog of 4,684 pre-sold homes valued at $1.6 billion, up 25% from a year ago.

Revenue from home building grew 35% to $624 million. Parnes said the backlog of homes to be built should ensure strong revenue for at least two more quarters.

"At this point there is no reason to expect any slowdown in their momentum," said analyst Nathan Hudson of Banc of America Securities, whose firm owns Standard Pacific stock. "There are virtually no clouds on the horizon for them or most public home builders at this point."

Hudson said the home builder "continues to execute very well in traditional markets like California and better than expected in Florida and some of their newer markets."

Among the company's strongest markets in Southern California are the Inland Empire, northern coastal San Diego County and Ventura County. Standard Pacific also has Orange County projects in Irvine Ranch, Ladera Ranch and the Talega planned community in San Clemente.

The company's presence in the Southeast was enhanced last week with the announced acquisition of Coppenbarger Homes in Jacksonville, Fla. Standard Pacific will sell about 2,200 homes in Florida this year and about 2,600 homes in California, Parnes said. Next year he expects the company to sell about 3,000 homes in each state.

Shares of Standard Pacific rose $2.50 to $46.40 on the New York Stock Exchange.